Kimba Wood
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Kimba Maureen Wood (born 1944)[1] is a United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Born in Port Townsend, Washington, Wood received a B.A. from Connecticut College in 1965, a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in 1966, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1969. Wood was in private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1969 to 1970, and was then an attorney with the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1970 to 1971. She relocated to New York City and returned to private practice from 1971 to 1988.
On December 18, 1987, Wood was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Constance Baker Motley. Wood was confirmed by a unanimous United States Senate on April 19, 1988, and received her commission on April 20, 1988. She entered on duty on July 28, 1988.[2] She served as chief judge from 2006 to 2009 and assumed senior status on June 1, 2009.
One of Wood's most famous decisions was sentencing Michael Milken, known as "The Junk Bond King", in 1990 to ten years in prison; the sentence was reduced to two years imprisonment and three years probation in 1991.[citation needed]
Wood was Bill Clinton's second unsuccessful nominee for attorney general in 1993. Like Clinton's previous nominee, Zoë Baird, Wood had hired an illegal alien as a nanny; although, unlike Baird, she had paid the required taxes on the employee and had broken no laws (Wood employed the undocumented immigrant at a time when it was legal to do so), the threat of a repetition of the same controversy ultimately led to a withdrawal of the nomination. A further burden was the disclosure that while she was a student in London, Wood had trained for five days as a Playboy bunny. Janet Reno was later nominated and confirmed for the post.
Later, in 1998, Wood presided over the case of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem v. Christie's, Inc., in which the ownership of the Archimedes Palimpsest was disputed. Wood also later presided over Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc., 88 F. Supp 2d 116 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), more widely known as the Pepsi Points Case.
Wood has also served on the Amherst College Board of Trustees, ending her term in 2001.[3]
Her first husband was Robert (Bob) Lovejoy, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Her second husband was political columnist Michael Kramer. Divorced in 1996, they have one son, Benjamin Wood Kramer. Wood is presently married to Wall Street financier and former Harvard Law School classmate Frank E. Richardson III, whom she wed in 1999. [4][5]
[edit] References
- Kimba Wood at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ Wood, Kimba Maureen. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
- ^ Federal Bar Council Second Circuit Redbook, 2003-2004, Vincent C. Allexander and Anne D. Alexander (eds.).
- ^ College row: Alumna joins trustees. (Winter 2001). Amherst Magazine (Amherst College). Retrieved January 21, 2007.
- ^ Too Sexy For Their Robes: The Nominees for Superhotties of the Federal Judiciary! (July 07, 2004). Underneath Their Robes - News, gossip, and colorful commentary about the federal judiciary.
- ^ Superhotties Fallout: UTR Corrections and Clarifications (July 07, 2004). Underneath Their Robes - News, gossip, and colorful commentary about the federal judiciary.
[edit] External links
- Profile of Kimba M. Wood '69 — Harvard Law Bulletin
- "Kimba Wood Emerges as No. 1 Attorney General Candidate" Los Angeles Times article
